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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24494047">When It Rains It Pours</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roosterteethlover/pseuds/Roosterteethlover'>Roosterteethlover</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RWBY</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>And its the catalyst for the story, Angst, Bittersweet, Grief/Mourning, Oscar misses his dad, Oz's death is mentioned, Single dad Oz au, Some comfort, a little fluff, it's pretty sad ngl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 05:02:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,722</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24494047</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roosterteethlover/pseuds/Roosterteethlover</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Oscar feels alone, after the tragic loss of his father during the Fall. But something is telling him his father might not be as gone as he once thought.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ozpin &amp; Oscar Pine</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>56</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>When It Rains It Pours</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/allthingsasian/gifts">allthingsasian</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This was a request from Bubblegum766! I hope you enjoy it! It hurt to write this! Like a lot! :D</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Oscar had been visiting his aunt when the fall happened. </p><p>It had all happened in one fell swoop, in a matter of hours he had lost him home and his father. Oscar had all but shut himself in his room in the barn, simply watching the light enter and leave the room as the days passed. Some days he would cry, some days he would get mad and destroy the room, some days he felt numb, some days he would simply sleep and pray that when he woke it would all be a dream. It was never a dream though. No matter how much he wished it was.</p><p>Weeks passed before Oscar began leaving his room with any regularity, the guilt over not doing anything to help his aunt eating away at him with his sorrow over his loss. At least when he worked on the farm he didn’t have to think, and when he went to bed at night he was too tired to dream. Nightmares became frequent on the rare nights he would dream, visions of men, women, and children he didn’t know. But with each gasping rise from his slumber he felt a sense of overwhelming sorrow. Though he often wondered if it was just his own sorrow, and the nightmares were just his grief addled mind playing tricks on him.</p><p>He missed his dad. He missed his playful winks, his rare bright laughter. He missed his hugs, he missed their late night talks over hot cocoa. He missed his green suit and his weird glasses, he missed his silvery hair that Oscar joked made him look like an old man.  Brothers, he missed his dad so much. He wanted him back. He wanted his dad. He wanted his dad! </p><p>Days blurred. He just let himself fall into a rhythm, wake up with the sun, pick at breakfast, work till lunch, pick at lunch, work till dinner, pick at dinner, go to bed, repeat. That was his life now, it was empty, it was barren. He didn’t think about it anymore. He didn’t think at all. He couldn’t or else he’d fall too deep into his own despair and drown. </p><p>Today was just another day like usual, he had woken from another nightmare, this one about the fall. He didn’t think about it. He picked at his breakfast, ignoring the worried gaze of his aunt. He worked, it was when he was grabbing a tool from the barn that it happened. He had been passing a mirror, catching a look at himself in the mirror. He looked….. wrong. Weren’t his eyes more yellow? And didn’t he have silver hair? When had all these freckles shown up? And most of all why did looking in the mirror make him so unbelievably sad? </p><p>“Hello?” he softly asked, unsure as to why. Looking deeper into the mirror he sighed, this was pointless. It was a mirror, it couldn’t talk back.</p><p>“I’m so sorry Oscar.” A voice, soft, familiar, he knew it. But it couldn’t be real. Brothers he had finally snapped! He was crazy! He was hearing his dead father's voice in his head! Why? Of all the things to hear or see, why that? Why the one thing that would hurt him the most? It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair! He kept working. His new found anger fueling his energy, he skipped lunch, and dinner. He collapsed into bed, ignoring the tears that streamed down his face and he fell asleep. </p><p>The next few days were the same, wake up, pick at breakfast, work, pick at lunch, work, pick at dinner, bed time. Over and over and over again. Though the sound of his father's voice still rang in his ears, “I’m so sorry Oscar.” why had he heard that? Was he going crazy? Was it the grief? The guilt over not being there? If it was guilt then why did his father apologize? None of it made sense but he felt weirdly…. happy to hear it. To hear that familiar voice, even if only briefly. He missed his dad so much, he almost wanted to hear it again. But he doubted he would.</p><p>Later that night he sat in bed, one of the rare nights where he couldn’t sleep. It was storming pretty bad outside, the rain pelted down and the wind howled. He laid on the bed, propped up on the pillows reading a book. It was about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over the body. It was pretty good. Oscar felt an odd dissonance in him for a moment, as though his whole body just felt wrong. He felt too small, and when he looked at his hands they didn’t feel like his hands. The last time he felt like this was that day in the barn, when he heard his dad.</p><p>“Hello?” he whispered, unsure as to why. His aunt was in the house, he was in the barn. Things were quiet though, there was no response. He sighed, wiping a few stray tears from his eyes. Why was he crying? Sure tears were pretty normal nowadays but this felt different. “Hello?” he called again, a little louder this time.</p><p>“Oscar.” his dad's voice spoke in his head, making him gasp. His book fell from his grasp and hit the floor, shooting Oscars sudden anxiety further up. Was this really happening? Was his father talking to him right now? Brothers he didn’t know what scared him more. It being completely real, or him being completely insane.  </p><p>“I assure you my dear, you are not insane.” his dad spoke softly, drawing further tears from Oscars eyes.</p><p>“How…. how is this happening?” Oscar timidly asked, pushing himself further up on the bed. Did he want to know? Would the answer mean anything if he was crazy? He had to be crazy! He was talking to a voice in his head!</p><p>“Oscar, I said you weren’t crazy. Not that you were normal.” Shut up! He wanted it to stop! This couldn’t be real! It wasn’t possible! Hadn’t he suffered enough? Why did the universe hate him?  What did he do?</p><p>“Stop it!” he cried, clutching the sides of his head. “Get out of my head!” He didn’t want this! He didn’t want this! He didn’t want a facsimile of his father's voice conjured by his own breaking psyche! He wanted his real father! He wanted to see him! To have him really there! Not this!</p><p>The dissonance ended, his body felt like his own again. The voice of his late father had left. And he wasn’t sure if he was more relieved or scared. The only thing he did know is that he wasn’t going to tell his aunt about this. He caused enough grief for her just by being there. He didn’t want to cause any more. He curled into himself in his bed and cried, he did that alot these days.</p><p>He didn’t hear his dad for a while after that, something he yet again wasn’t sure he was thankful for or not. It was all really confusing and he didn’t know how he felt about everything. He really hated this. </p><p>But that night, something happened. The day had been normal, long, tiring, and he was beyond tired that night. He was sure he wouldn’t dream that night, so when he opened his eyes to find himself in his old room in Vale he was surprised. This… didn’t feel like a normal dream. </p><p>“Oscar! Where are you?” the voice of his father sang out through the home. He then heard high pitched giggling coming from the closet. He moved to step forward, but found he was stuck in place.</p><p>The door to his room opened and in stepped his father, a playful look in his eyes and a bright smile on his face. Oscar felt a spike of grief hit him at the sight.</p><p>“Oscar.” his father sing-songed, “I know you’re in here!” Another giggle came from the closet and his father grinned wider and moved towards it. “I’m gonna getcha!” he said playfully, flinging the doors open and snatching a much smaller version of Oscar from the closet floor.</p><p>The younger him laughed and wiggled in his father grip, his father laughed and hugged the younger him close. Then time seemed to freeze and he heard his father’s voice talking to him from seemingly everywhere.</p><p>“You were so small Oscar, so innocent. I truly wish we could go back to those days.” he spoke, sounding so tired, and so sad.</p><p>“Dad?” he asked, still unable to move, “Where are you? What’s going on?”</p><p>“This will sound rather impossible to you. But I promise, it’s all true.” the voice said, as the scene changed. This time it was a scene of his father in General Ironwood's office.</p><p>“Ozpin, you can’t really want to keep this boy can you?” the General asked, incredulously. “You have a duty to the world, you have a school to run, the war with Salem, you can’t afford to care for a baby right now.”</p><p>“James, I understand where you’re coming from. But I have to do this, I want to do this. I already love him too much to let him go anyways.” his father replied coolly. He looked different to Oscar, younger but also not. It was weird.</p><p>“What is he talking about?” Oscar called out as the scene froze. “What war? Whose Salem?”</p><p>“I was cursed a long time ago Oscar. Cursed by the gods for failing to stop Salem in the past. I cannot die. Not in the traditional sense.” his father explained, “I die, and then I am reincarnated into a like minded soul.”</p><p>The scene changed again, this one was to him and his father driving in the car. Oscar remembered this trip, it had been a summer trip to the beach. He remembered dad had gotten a horrible sunburn, but Oscar himself had gotten at least a thousand more freckles.</p><p>“Dad, I wanna be a huntsman when I grow up.” the younger him said, idly looking out the window.</p><p>“Why is that?” his dad asked, eyes briefly flickering to him before settling back on the road.</p><p>Past him hummed, “I wanna help people, I want to protect them.”</p><p>“Even if it means you could die?” the past version of his dad replied. Oscar had never noticed how his fingers tightened around the wheel before.</p><p>“Yeah. If I can save just one person, then it’ll be worth it.” past him replied. “That’s what it means to be a huntsman right?”</p><p>His dad sighed softly, but not sadly, “Yes my dear, and if you want to be a huntsman then I will support you every step of the way.” </p><p>The scene stopped, “I don’t understand.” he called out, “Dad why are you showing my all of this?”</p><p>“Oscar, you are the next incarnation. Our souls, our auras, are combined. They cannot be separated.” the dad's voice replied.</p><p>The scene changed once more, but now he was in a plain white expanse. And standing a few feet away was his father, silver hair and green suit looking as prim and proper as ever. Oscar took a step forward, finally able to move again, and he broke into a sprint. The all but tackled his father, clutching his jacket in his hands and sobbing into his chest. His dad wrapped his arms around Oscar and held him in a comforting embrace.</p><p>“I’m so sorry Oscar. I never wanted this for you.” he said softly, moving to card a hand through Oscar’s hair.</p><p>Oscar shook his head, “Never wanted what? I don’t understand.”</p><p>His father pulled away and knelt down to his level, “Oscar, we have a great task ahead of us. I never wanted you to be brought into his war, but it seems I have no other option.”</p><p>Oscar sniffled and scrubbed at his eyes, “Why did you have to go? You’re the strongest huntsman in the world. How could you just-” Oscar couldn’t get the words out, only let out another sob and fell once more into his father’s arms.</p><p>His father sighed, hugging Oscar close. Oscar felt his shoulder grow wet with his father’s tears, “I never meant to go. I didn’t have a choice. I fought as hard as I could, but at the end of the day I wasn’t strong enough.”</p><p>Oscar clung tighter to his father, “What now?” His father didn’t respond, simply held Oscar tighter. They fell in silence, neither wanting this moment to end, neither wanting to let the other go. </p><p>“Oscar, you’re going to wake up soon.” his dad said after an endless moment, “If you will have me, then I’ll be there when you wake.”</p><p>“Please don’t go.” Oscar pleaded, nuzzling into his father's shoulder. </p><p>“I won’t.” he promised, “I won’t go anywhere my dear.”</p><p>Oscar let out a shaky breath, “I love you dad.”</p><p>He heard a shaky breath leave his father, “I love you too. So much Oscar.”</p><p>The expanse started to fade away around Oscar, his father gave him a small smile and kissed his forehead before he too faded away. Oscar woke up with dried tears on his face, and a nearly forgotten feeling of restfulness in his body. </p><p>He sat up and rubbed his face, “Dad? Are you… are you there?”</p><p>*I’m here Oscar.* his father’s voice said from inside his mind.</p><p>Oscar inhaled sharply, “So… this is… real? Like really really real? Or am I just going insane?”</p><p>His father gave a soft chuckle, “You’re not insane my dear.”</p><p>“I’m talking to my dead father's voice in my head.” he replied, curling into himself slightly. He wanted to believe all of this, but it was pretty impossible. </p><p>“I said your sane, not that you were normal.” his father responded.</p><p>Oscar’s face softened, “You never thought I was normal.”  </p><p>*No.* his dad responded immediately, *I always thought you the most extraordinarily boy in all of Remnant.*</p><p>Oscar sighed but it wasn’t sad, “Well it helps to have a pretty amazing dad.” His dad chuckled and he found a small, rare, smile work its way onto his face. “What now?” he asked.</p><p>His father sighed heavily, the moment of levity gone in an instant, *We have to leave. We need to meet your Uncle Qrow at Haven.*</p><p>“Why Haven?” he asked.</p><p>*We agreed that if something like… this, where to happen we would meet in Haven. That and we need to check on Leo and relic in the school.* his dad explained.</p><p>“Relic?” Oscar asked.</p><p>*It’s a long story, one I can tell you on the way. But we must leave as soon as possible.* was the answer.</p><p>Oscar hesitated for a moment, “What about Auntie Em?”</p><p>*I’m sorry my dear, but we have to go. Even though it means leaving her behind.* his dad responded sadly.</p><p>Oscar took a deep breath, “Ok. She probably won’t be up for a while, I should probably start packing.”</p><p>*I’m sorry Oscar. Truly I am.* his dad said softly as Oscar began packing his things. </p><p>Oscar wished he knew what to say, but he was still too lost to even know where to begin. This was all happening pretty fast, but something deep inside his soul was telling him he was doing the right thing. Maybe that was the part of his soul that his dad now occupied. This was all so confusing, and he felt so out of depth. But what could he do? He knew he couldn’t stay with his aunt forever, and if all of this really was true then he needed to do this. Even if it hurt.</p><p>*I wish there was another way.* his dad said once the packing was done. *If I could go back, find some way to change this…*</p><p>“It’s already done.” Oscar said, “We can’t go back, but we can move forward. Isn’t that what you used to say?”</p><p>His dad chuckled, *Yes, I supposed I used to say that quite a bit. And you’re right, we can only move forward now.*</p><p>“So dad, to Haven?” he asked, sounding far more sure than he felt.</p><p>*To Haven.* his father replied. And with that, they took their first steps into the unknown, but at least they were together.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope you enjoyed! If you have any requests or prompts for something you would like to see me write, then just comment below or send me and ask @collectingsoarechangemadeeasy on Tumblr! I only ask that it's RWBY related and SFW and I promise I'll get to it as soon as I can. have a lovely day you guys!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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